Umbrella for use on boats



y 3, 1951 J. M. GARRETT K 2,559,421

UMBRELLA FOR USE ON BOATS Filed June 15, 1949 In ventot Jesse M. Gamer!Patented July 3, 1951 UNITED STATES -PATENT OFFICE UMBRELLA FOR USE ONBOATS Jesse M. Garrett, Longview, Tex.

Application June 15, 1949, Serial No. 99,327

The present invention relates to sturdy and relatively large umbrellassufiicient in size to shield a plurality of persons, and has moreparticular reference to a novel clamp and staff construction for such anumbrella which will allow the umbrella to be conveniently erected onfishing skilfs and boats and employed for protection against sun andrain but used, primarily, as a sail for propelling said boat.

It is now common knowledge that umbrellas in the category underconsideration have been used in the above capacities and that it ispopular practice on fishing crafts used on lakes to rely on an umbrellaas a sail while trolling. The difficulty has been that unless a widerange of adjustments be available, the umbrella, when open, of course,cannot be satisfactorily employed to gain best propulsion results.Confronted with this problem, I have now worked out a simple, practicaland efficient structure which has to do primarily with the staffconstruction and find that my special adaptations make it feasible,indeed, to employ an umbrella, customarily used for protection againstrain and sun, as an effective sail.

Briefly, novelty is predicated upon an umbrella of suitable size andstrength for intended purposes and a strong sectional staff, said staffbeing made up of several units combining their functions and utilitiesin providing a series of individual and collective adjustmentssusceptible of attaining the wanted ends with requisite nicety andreliability.

One phase of novelty has to do with a staff construction having a clampat one end, an umbrella at the opposite end, and a plurality ofinterconnected and intervening complemental units or sections, thelatter being arranged to provide at least two joints with the partsworking on horizontal axes, and ajoint between the staff and clamp whichswivels on a vertical axis, whereby the parts, all working together,permits the umbrella to be tilted at an advantageous angle in respect tothe wind and swivelled about, as the wind changes, the results beingattainable conveniently by the duly appointed occupant of the boat.

, Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent fromthe following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein like numerals areemployed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a view primarily in elevation but partly in section, showingan umbrella and complements constructed in accordance with the in- 1Claim. (Cl. 248-38) vention and showing the clamp attached to a seat Ion a boat or the like (not shown) Figure 2 is also an elevational viewwith the structure removed from the boat seat and observing same bylooking at Figure 1 in a direction from right to left;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional and elevational view on theline 33 of Figure 1; looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Figure 4 is a similar enlarged fragmentary sectional and elevationalview on the line 44 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

It may be pointed out, by way of introduction to the detaileddescription, that the clamping means, the unit which I identifygenerally by the numeral 1, may be attached as shown to a boat seatboard 8 or may be, of course, attached to the side or gunwale of theboat.

Referring now to the drawings by distinguishing reference numerals, wewill start with the stated clamp 'l which comprises upper and lower jaws9 and I0 and a body portion II, which body portion is shown providedwith a tapered bore or passage l2 into which the screw-threaded shank ofa set screw l3 projects. The lower jaw I0 is also provided with a setscrew [4, here shown engaged with the bottom of the seat board 8.

The first unit of what may be referred to as a triple section staff forthe umbrella I5 is shown mounted wholly on the clamp. This unit orsection, identified at I6, comprises a stub member l1 having a reducedtapered spindle portion l8 which is swivelly mounted in thecorrespondingly tapered bore [2. the spindle is threaded to accommodatea knurled finger-adjusted clamping nut I9. With the nut l9 and set screwl3, it is possible to quickly and effectively adjust the unit IS inrelation to the clamping unit 1. Unit [6 also includes a circularcentrally apertured head member 20 having a toothed surface. This headedmember is opposed to a complemental headed disk or member 2| which isalso toothed and the coacting teeth of the respective heads are denotedgenerally at 22. These members 20 and 2| provide an adjustable positiveclamp type joint which constitutes what may be called the lower joint23. A tapered bolt 24 with a knurled grip 25 serves to effectively bindand clamp the heads 20 and 2| together to perfect a reliable joint. Thehead 2| is carried by a vertically disposable tube 26 constituting theintermediate section of the umbrella staff. The upper end of tube 26 islongitudinally slitted, tapered and screw-threaded to provide grippingjaws 21 and these are sur- The lower protruding end of rounded by ascrew-threaded collet 28 which is suitably knurled and provided with aset screw 29 to engage the jaws 21. The features 21 and 28 provide aclamping collet for the lower telescoping and adjustable end portion ofthe tubular member 30. This adaptation wherein 30 is suitably chucked inthe tube 26 allows for lengthening the overall dimension of the staff.The upper end of tube 30 is welded at 3| (see Fig. 3) to a disk-likejointing head 32 forming a complemental part of the upper joint 33. Theremaining part of the joint is a complemental head 34 with the faces ofthe heads 32 and 34 having gear teeth 35 securely joining the'headstogether. A bolt 36 is threaded into the central screw-threaded hole inthe head 32 and said bolt has a tapered or conical shank 37 which iswedged into a conical bore in the head 34. The screw or bolt, as it maybe called, is provided with a knurled adjusting grip 38. The uppermoststaff section 39' iswelded at 40- to the head 34 and is connected at itsupper end in any suitable manner with the collapsible umbrella I5.

I know of no sturdily built umbrella for both protection against sun andrain which may be adequately used as a fishing boat sail while trollingon lakes and the like which has a staff and clamp arrangementconstructed as herein shown and described. Novelty is predicated uponthe clamp unit 1- to which the lower unit or section [6 of the. staff isswivelly connected. Novelty is also predicated upon the clamp 'l' with aswivelly mounted unit It forming an essential part ofja hinge joint 23which connects the intermediate section 26 of an umbrella shaft to aclamp. Thus, the clamp is detachable, unit l6 may be swivelled, and thehinge joint 23 may be adjusted to angle the section 26 in relation tothe, clamp or boat as the case may be. Novelty is predicated upon thesecond or upper clamp 33 which is telescopically connected by way of thetubular member 39 with the intermediate staff section 26' and whichclamp forms an essential part, of the uppermost staff member 39 whichcarries the. umbrella proper. So, we have a staff which is primarilymade up of sections 26' and 39 connected by a hinge joint wherein thetwo seotions are regulatable on a horizontal axis, permitting thesection 26 to be angled at a 45 pitch in relation to the boat and theother section to be angled in. a somewhat opposite direction to cant ortilt the umbrella over the boat. With thetwo sections thus in somewhatV-shaped relationship, the entire umbrella and shaft may be. swivelledon the vertical axis provided between the spindle l.8' turning in thebore 12 of the clamp 1. The tapered bolts which assemble the heads ofthe respective joints 23. and 33. serve to securely bindthe respectiveclamping heads together and make, the adjustment of parts easy on, thefingers.

Although, the invention has. been described primarily for use on fishingboats, it is obvious that. it may be used in other fields of endeavor.That is to say, it may well be used as protection against rain, snow,sleet. and wind on tractors, plows, automobiles, chairs, benches,tables, wagons, bathing beaches and so on, thus to serve the needs ofwelders, drivers, drilling attendants, bathers, and so on and so forth.

In View of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, it is believed that a clear understanding of thedevice will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A moredetailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there'is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention, the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the. spirit of theinvention as herein described and within the scope of the appendedclaim.

Having described the claimed as new is:

A convertible boat type umbrella support comprising a clamp forattachment to a fixed support, said clamp having a tapered open-endedvertical bore, an adapter unit, embodying a vertical stub member havinga shoulder and a reduced tapered spindle below said shoulder, saidspindle being swivelled in said bore and. having a screw-threaded lowerend portion passing through and beyond said bore and provided with. athumb nut adapted to clamp either loosely or tightly against said clamp,a set-screw carried by said clamp and releasably engageable. with saidspindle, said shoulder resting rotatably on said clamp, a jointing andhinging head carried by the upper end of said stub member, an elongatedstaff section provided on its lower end. with a complemental jointingand hinging head opposed to said first-named head, an assembling andbinding bolt piercing said heads and providing a. combination clamp andhinging joint, a third hinging and jointing head detachably, rotatablyand extensibly mounted on the upper end of said staff section, a, secondstafi section adapted to carry an umbrella canopy on its upper end, a,fourth hinging and jointing head mounted on the lower end of said secondstaff section and opposed, to said third-named head, and an assembling,clamping and hinging bolt. passing through said thirdand fourth-namedheads, said bolts being parallel to invention, what is each other, andat. right angles. to said spindle and" the detachable, rotatable andextensible mounting between the third. head and first staff. sectionembodying a chuck carried by the upper end ofsaid. latter section- JESSEM. GARRETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 565,001 Horton Aug. 4, 1896840,241 Nootbaar Jan. 1, 1907 1,143,990 Oelkers June 22, 1915 2,497,642Wagner Feb. 14', 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 11,555 GreatBritain May 15, 1912

